The latest man to fall victim to this narrative is 25-year-old Cathal McCarron, a Gaelic football player for the Irish Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) whose alleged audition footage for the gay porn website TheCastingRoom.net (NSFW) surfaced on social media earlier this week.

McCarron allegedly appeared in two gay adult films under the pseudonym “Fergus” for TheCastingRoom, a gay-for-pay adult website (meaning that most of its stars are straight men who will perform sexual acts with other men for the camera).

In the first clip, a man who bears a strong resemblance to McCarron is filmed masturbating. In the second, he’s seen having anal and oral sex with a “hunky daddy-type.”

The description for the clip reads: “Big strapping footballer Fergus grew up in a rural area where sexual adventures were limited. Now that he’s living in the big city he wants to try it all!” It seems that the videos have since been wiped from TheCastingRoom, but you can check out the very, very NSFW stills if you’re interested.

Since the videos started circulating on Twitter last Wednesday under the hashtag #fergus (McCarron’s alleged pseudonym), McCarron has not publicly acknowledged that he is the performer in the videos. Nonetheless, he’s been deluged with a series of homophobic taunts, threats, and “jokes,” prompting him to shut down his Facebook page earlier this week.

This is not the first time McCarron has made headlines in Ireland and the U.K. Last October, it was revealed that McCarron was struggling with a gambling addiction, and earlier this month he temporarily lost his ability to move or speak after suffering a nasty blow to the back during a match.

It’s also not surprising that he’s received such blowback as a result of his alleged involvement in a gay porn film. Not only is Ireland not exactly known for its staunch support of LGBT rights, but there’s still a great deal of stigma surrounding the adult entertainment industry, if last month’s media frenzy surrounding Belle Knox, a.k.a. the “Duke porn star,” is any indication.

If McCarron is good at his job, it shouldn’t make any difference to his fans or teammates if he’s gay or straight, or whether or not he’s had sex on camera (it’s also worth noting that he’s pretty easy on the eyes, so if he chose to pursue an adult career, you wouldn’t see me complaining). Judging by the amount of abuse he’s received on Twitter, it seems that’s sadly not the case.

That Cathal McCarron fella seriously needs a break, no-one deserves their personal life being put out all over the news and papers

— Fintan Gormley (@fintan_gormley) April 3, 2014

London GAA vice-chairman Tony O’Halloran also voiced his support for McCarron, telling the Belfast Telegraph the club was “just hoping he’ll get any help that he needs” with his gambling addiction.

While it’s certainly telling that the GAA’s statement in support of McCarron focused on his struggles with gambling, not on his decision to do gay pornography (we don’t know what prompted his decision to shoot the scenes, whether it was money problems or sheer sexual curiosity), either way McCarron is getting the help he needs: He checked into rehab yesterday.

EJ Dickson is a writer and editor who primarily covers sex, dating, and relationships, with a special focus on the intersection of intimacy and technology. She served as the Daily Dot’s IRL editor from January 2014 to July 2015. Her work has since appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mic, Bustle, Romper, and Men’s Health.